Systems and methods for sharing content

ABSTRACT

Systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable media can provide an interface that includes a plurality of panes. A determination can be made that a first pane is being accessed, the first pane for capturing and broadcasting live content through a social networking system. A live content stream can be captured upon accessing the first pane. Data corresponding to the live content stream can be provided to the social networking system for broadcasting.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present technology relates to the field of content provisioning overa computer network. More particularly, the present technology relates totechniques for broadcasting content through a social networking system.

BACKGROUND

Users often utilize computing devices (or systems) for a wide variety ofpurposes. Users can use their computing devices to, for example,interact with one another, access content, share content, and createcontent. In some cases, content can be provided by members of a socialnetworking system. The content can include one or a combination of text,images, videos, and audio. The content may be published to the socialnetworking system for consumption by others.

SUMMARY

Various embodiments of the present disclosure can include systems,methods, and non-transitory computer readable media configured toprovide an interface that includes a plurality of panes. A determinationcan be made that a first pane is being accessed, the first pane forcapturing and broadcasting live content through a social networkingsystem. A live content stream can be captured upon accessing the firstpane. Data corresponding to the live content stream can be provided tothe social networking system for broadcasting.

In some embodiments, the interface includes a second pane for accessinga content library, and the interface includes a third pane for accessingother live content stream being broadcasted through the socialnetworking system.

In some embodiments, the live content stream ceases to be accessiblethrough the social networking system once broadcasting ends.

In some embodiments, broadcasting of the live content stream is pausedwhen the second pane or the third pane is accessed.

In some embodiments, the first pane includes at least one of an optionto capture one or more screenshot images of the live content stream oran option to capture one or more videos of the live content stream.

In some embodiments, captured screenshot images or captured videos ofthe live content stream are stored on the computing device.

In some embodiments, captured screenshot images or captured videos ofthe live content stream are stored in the content library accessiblethrough the second pane.

In some embodiments, the second pane includes an option for sharingcontent stored in the content library through the social networkingsystem.

In some embodiments, feedback received for the live content stream fromother viewing users of the social networking system is provided throughthe first pane.

In some embodiments, an avatar associated with a viewing user animateswhen the viewing user interacts with the live content stream.

It should be appreciated that many other features, applications,embodiments, and/or variations of the disclosed technology will beapparent from the accompanying drawings and from the following detaileddescription. Additional and/or alternative implementations of thestructures, systems, non-transitory computer readable media, and methodsdescribed herein can be employed without departing from the principlesof the disclosed technology.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system including an example contentprovider module, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a live app module, according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example diagram, according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIGS. 4A-4B also illustrate example diagrams, according to an embodimentof the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example method, according to an embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates a network diagram of an example system including anexample social networking system that can be utilized in variousscenarios, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a computer system or computing devicethat can be utilized in various scenarios, according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

The figures depict various embodiments of the disclosed technology forpurposes of illustration only, wherein the figures use like referencenumerals to identify like elements. One skilled in the art will readilyrecognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments ofthe structures and methods illustrated in the figures can be employedwithout departing from the principles of the disclosed technologydescribed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Approaches for Sharing Content

As mentioned, users often utilize computing devices for a wide varietyof purposes. Users can use their computing devices to, for example,interact with one another, access content, share content, and createcontent. In some cases, content items can include postings from users ofan online community or platform, such as a social networking system. Thepostings may include one or a combination of text, images, videos, andaudio. The postings may be published through the social networkingsystem for consumption by others. Under conventional approaches, contentitems posted by a user can be included in one or more content feeds thatare accessible through the social networking system. In general, contentposted by users tend to reflect past events that have already occurredin time. As such, the posted content can be static, old, stale, and lackspontaneity. Even when conventional approaches allow for the capture andlive broadcast of content (e.g., live video), these approaches canrequire extensive user interactions with electronic devices or otherequipment to initiate and maintain the live broadcast. The extent ofsuch user interactions and resulting delay often hinder timely captureof spontaneous events. Further, conventional techniques for supporting alive broadcast through an electronic device can undesirably precludeseparate, simultaneous capture of images or video segments through thesame electronic device.

An improved approach rooted in computer technology overcomes theforegoing and other disadvantages associated with conventionalapproaches specifically arising in the realm of computer technology.Based on computer technology, content can be shared in real-time withusers of a content provider (e.g., social networking system). Suchcontent may include live content that is being broadcasted through thecontent provider. For example, such live content (or live content item)can correspond to content that is being captured and streamed live by auser (e.g., a broadcaster). In this instance, the broadcaster cancapture and stream an event (e.g., a live video of the broadcaster, ahiking scenery, a vacation trip, etc.) as part of a live content stream.Such events can be captured using computing devices (e.g., mobiledevices with audio and video capture capabilities) and/or standalonedevices (e.g., video cameras and microphones). A user (e.g., a viewer)operating a computing device can access the live content stream throughthe content provider. In response, the content provider encodes andprovides data corresponding to the live content stream to the user'scomputing device over a network (e.g., the Internet) in real-time (ornear real-time). The computing device can decode and present the livecontent stream, for example, through a display screen of the computingdevice. In general, the live content stream continues to be provided tothe user's computing device until the broadcaster stops streaming livecontent or the user instructs the computing device to stop accessing thelive content stream. In various embodiments, a standalone softwareapplication (“live app”) can be used to capture and stream live contentthrough the content provider. For example, a user operating a computingdevice can launch the live app. When launched, the live app can instructthe computing device to immediately begin capturing and streaming livecontent through the content provider without additional input from theuser. More details relating to the disclosed technology are providedbelow.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system 100 including an example contentprovider module 102, according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. As shown in the example of FIG. 1, the content providermodule 102 can include a content module 104, a content upload module106, and a live stream module 108. In some instances, the example system100 can include at least one data store 120. A live app module 110 caninteract with the content provider module 102 over one or more networks(e.g., the Internet, a local area network, a cellular network, etc.). Insome embodiments, the live app module 110 can be implemented as astandalone software application (“live app”) running on a computingdevice being operated by a user. In some embodiments, the user is amember of a social network (e.g., the social networking system 630 ofFIG. 6). The components (e.g., modules, elements, etc.) shown in thisfigure and all figures herein are exemplary only, and otherimplementations may include additional, fewer, integrated, or differentcomponents. Some components may not be shown so as not to obscurerelevant details.

In some embodiments, the content provider module 102 and/or the live appmodule 110 can be implemented, in part or in whole, as software,hardware, or any combination thereof. In general, a module as discussedherein can be associated with software, hardware, or any combinationthereof. In some implementations, one or more functions, tasks, and/oroperations of modules can be carried out or performed by softwareroutines, software processes, hardware, and/or any combination thereof.In some cases, the content provider module 102 or at least a portionthereof can be implemented using one or more computing devices orsystems that include one or more servers, such as network servers orcloud servers. In some instances, the content provider module 102 and/orthe live app module 110 can, in part or in whole, be implemented withinor configured to operate in conjunction with a social networking system(or service), such as the social networking system 630 of FIG. 6. Insome instances, the content provider module 102 and/or the live appmodule 110 can be, in part or in whole, implemented within or configuredto operate in conjunction or be integrated with a client computingdevice, such as the user device 610 of FIG. 6. For example, the contentprovider module 102 and/or the live app module 110 can be implemented asor within a dedicated application (e.g., app), a program, or an appletrunning on a user computing device or client computing system. Theapplication incorporating or implementing instructions for performingsome, or all, functionality of the content provider module 102 and/orthe live app module 110 can be created by a developer. The applicationcan be provided to or maintained in a repository. In some cases, theapplication can be uploaded or otherwise transmitted over a network(e.g., Internet) to the repository. For example, a computing system(e.g., server) associated with or under control of the developer of theapplication can provide or transmit the application to the repository.The repository can include, for example, an “app” store in which theapplication can be maintained for access or download by a user. Inresponse to a command by the user to download the application, theapplication can be provided or otherwise transmitted over a network fromthe repository to a computing device associated with the user. Forexample, a computing system (e.g., server) associated with or undercontrol of an administrator of the repository can cause or permit theapplication to be transmitted to the computing device of the user sothat the user can install and run the application. The developer of theapplication and the administrator of the repository can be differententities in some cases, but can be the same entity in other cases. Itshould be understood that many variations are possible.

The content provider module 102 can be configured to communicate and/oroperate with the at least one data store 120, as shown in the examplesystem 100. The at least one data store 120 can be configured to storeand maintain various types of data. For example, the data store 120 canstore information describing various content that has been posted byusers of a social networking system. In some implementations, the atleast one data store 120 can store information associated with thesocial networking system (e.g., the social networking system 630 of FIG.6). The information associated with the social networking system caninclude data about users, social connections, social interactions,locations, geo-fenced areas, maps, places, events, pages, groups, posts,communications, content, feeds, account settings, privacy settings, asocial graph, and various other types of data. In some implementations,the at least one data store 120 can store information associated withusers, such as user identifiers, user information, profile information,user specified settings, content produced or posted by users, andvarious other types of user data.

The content provider module 102 can be configured to provide users withaccess to content items that are posted, or made available, through acontent provider (e.g., social networking system). For example, a usercan interact with an interface that is provided by a softwareapplication (e.g., a social networking application) running on acomputing device of the user. This interface can be used to accessvarious content items that are accessible through the social networkingsystem. In some instances, the content module 104 can include variouscontent items in the user's news feed. Such content items may includeon-demand content items as well as content that is being streamed live.The user can access content items while browsing the news feed. In someinstances, the content module 104 can also identify and provide contentitems that are responsive to search queries submitted through theinterface.

In some embodiments, this interface can include an option for posting,or uploading, content items to the social networking system. Whenposting a content item, the content upload module 106 can be utilized tocommunicate data corresponding to the content item from the computingdevice to the social networking system. Such content items may includetext, images, audio, and videos, for example. The social networkingsystem can then provide the content item through the social networkingsystem including, for example, in one or more news feeds.

In some embodiments, the live stream module 108 can be configured toreceive and distribute live content streams through the socialnetworking system. When a live content stream is initiated by acomputing device, the live stream module 108 can be utilized tocommunicate data (e.g., audio data, video data, etc.) corresponding tothe content to be streamed live from the computing device and throughthe social networking system. The live stream module 108 can utilize anygenerally known techniques that allow for live streaming of contentincluding, for example, the Real Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP). Invarious embodiments, the computing device from which the live contentstream is being provided can be equipped to capture data (e.g., videodata, audio data, etc.) corresponding to the live content stream.

In various embodiments, the live app module 110 can be configured tocapture and provide content to be streamed live through the contentprovider module 102. As mentioned, in some embodiments, the live appmodule 110 can be implemented as a standalone software application(“live app”) that can run on various computing devices. In someembodiments, a user operating a computing device can launch the softwareapplication in which the live app module 110 is implemented toimmediately begin capturing live content. For example, in someembodiments, the live app module 110 can instruct the computing deviceto begin capturing data (e.g., video data, audio data, etc.)corresponding to a live content stream without additional input from theuser. In this example, the live app module 110 can communicate thecaptured data to the live stream module 108 for distribution through thesocial networking system, as described above. More details regarding thelive app module 110 will be provided below with reference to FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a live app module 202, according to anembodiment of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the live appmodule 110 of FIG. 1 can be implemented as the live app module 202. Asshown in FIG. 2, the live app module 202 can include an interface module204, a content capture module 206, a content share module 208, afeedback module 210, a broadcast lock module 212, and a live contentaccess module 214. In some embodiments, the live app module 202 can beimplemented in a software application, such as a “live app,” running ona computing device being operated by a user.

The interface module 204 can be configured to provide an interfacehaving one or more panes that are accessible through the live apprunning on a computing device, as illustrated in the examples of FIG. 3and FIGS. 4A-4B. As used herein, a pane can be a user interface orportion thereof, such as a screen, a space, a surface, or the like. Forexample, in some embodiments, the interface module 204 can provide afirst pane through which live content streams can be captured andbroadcasted through the social networking system. In some embodiments,the interface module 204 can provide a second pane through which contentthat is stored on (or is otherwise accessible to) the computing devicecan be accessed. In some embodiments, the interface module 204 canprovide a third pane through which live content streams beingbroadcasted by other users of the social networking system can beaccessed. Many variations are possible.

In various embodiments, the content capture module 206 can be configuredto capture various types of content. For example, in some embodiments,the content capture module 206 can be configured to capture data (e.g.,video data, audio data, etc.) corresponding to live content streams. Insome embodiments, when a user (e.g., a broadcaster) launches the liveapp on a computing device, the content capture module 206 canautomatically begin capturing and communicating a live content stream ofsome event to the social networking system without additional input orcommands provided by the user. In some embodiments, in addition to beingaccessible through the live app as discussed in more detail herein, thelive content stream is made available as an ephemeral story that isaccessible through the social networking system. In such embodiments,the live content stream can be accessible through a story on the socialnetworking system provided the live content stream is active. That is,the live content stream continues to be accessible through the story onsocial networking system until broadcasting of the live content streamhas ceased.

In some embodiments, the user operating the computing device can selectoptions to capture and store portions of the live content stream. Forexample, in some embodiments, the user can select an option to capture avideo of some, or all, of the live content stream being broadcasted. Insuch embodiments, the video can be stored on a data store associatedwith the computing device (e.g., a local data store, network-based datastore, cloud-based data store, etc.). Similarly, in some embodiments,the user can select an option to capture one or more images (orscreenshots) of the live content stream being broadcasted. In suchembodiments, the captured images can also be stored on the data storeassociated with the computing device. In some embodiments, captured livecontent stream can be made accessible as a story. In such embodiments,the captured live content stream remains accessible as a story throughthe social networking system for a pre-defined time period (e.g., 24hours).

In various embodiments, the content share module 208 can be configuredto share captured content. For example, the captured content may beshared with other users of the social networking system. In variousembodiments, the captured content can include screenshot images orvideos of any live content streams that are actively being broadcastedor were previously broadcasted through the social networking system. Insome embodiments, such content may be shared with other users in one ormore messages sent through the social networking system and/or in one ormore content feeds that are accessible through the social networkingsystem, for example.

The feedback module 210 can be configured to convey interactions (e.g.,likes, reactions, etc.) received from users accessing a live contentstream being broadcasted through the social networking system. Forexample, the computing device running the live app can broadcast a livecontent stream through the social networking system. During thebroadcast, the feedback module 210 can determine when a viewer of thelive content stream has selected options to interact with the livecontent stream. Such options can include an option to “like” the livecontent stream or options to react to the live content stream (e.g., a“happy” reaction, a “sad” reaction, etc.), for example. When the viewerselects an option to interact with the live content stream, the feedbackmodule 210 can indicate such interaction, for example, through theinterface provided by the interface module 204. In some embodiments,viewers of the live content stream can be represented in the interfaceas avatars. In some embodiments, an avatar corresponding to a viewer cananimate when that viewer interacts with the live content stream. Forexample, the viewer may send feedback, such as a “love” reaction whileaccessing the live content stream. In this example, the feedback module210 can cause an avatar associated with the viewer to reflect theinteraction through the interface using some pre-defined animation. Manyvariations are possible.

In various embodiments, the broadcast lock module 212 can be configuredto pause broadcasting of a live content stream. For example, in someembodiments, when launched, the live app can provide a pane associatedwith a camera view through which live content can be captured andbroadcasted. In some instances, a user may access other panes providedby the live app while live content is actively being captured andbroadcasted. For example, the user may access another pane that providesaccess to a content library. In another example, the user may access adifferent pane that provides access to other live content streams thatare available to view. In some embodiments, the broadcast lock module212 can pause broadcasting of the live content when a pane other thanthe pane associated with the camera view is accessed during thebroadcast. In some embodiments, the broadcast lock module 212 canindicate when a live content broadcast is paused using some visualindicator (e.g., broadcast lock icon, overlay, etc.). In someembodiments, the broadcasting of the live content can resume when thepane associated with the camera view is again accessed in the live app.

In various embodiments, the live content access module 214 can provideaccess to other live content streams that are being broadcasted throughthe social networking system. For example, in some embodiments, the livecontent access module 214 can provide access to live content streamsthrough a different pane of the live app. In such embodiments, livecontent streams can be selected and viewed in the different pane of thelive app.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example diagram 300, according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure. In the example of FIG. 3, a user operating acomputing device 302 has launched an instance of the live app thatproceeds to broadcast a live event through a social networking systemwithout further user inputs or commands apart from the launch of theinstance of the live app. In some embodiments, when the live app isfirst launched, the live app defaults to a first pane 304. The firstpane 304 can be associated with a camera view through which contentcaptured and streamed through the social networking system is presented.In some embodiments, the first pane 304 can include a live statusindicator 306 that indicates whether the computing device 302 isactively broadcasting live content through the social networking system.The first pane 304 can also include a region 316 in which avatars 314corresponding to users (or viewers) accessing the live content streamcan be displayed. In some embodiments, an avatar associated with aviewer can animate when that viewer interacts with the live contentstream through the social networking system. For example, the viewer mayselect an option to submit a “love” reaction. In this example, thesocial networking system can instruct the live app to animate the avatarassociated with the viewer. Here, the avatar is shown animating asexploding hearts 312. In some embodiments, the first pane 304 includesan option 308 for capturing the live content stream being broadcasted.For example, in some embodiments, the option 308 can be selected (e.g.,held, double tapped, etc.) to capture a video of some, or all, of thelive content stream. In some embodiments, the option 308 can be selected(e.g., tapped, etc.) to capture one or more screenshots 310 (or images)of the live content stream. In some embodiments, captured content can bestored in a local data store of the computing device 302. In someembodiments, captured content can be accessible to users of the socialnetworking system through a story feed. In some embodiments, the usercan use one or more touch screen gestures 318 to access different paneswithin the live app. For example, in some embodiments, a swipe gesture(e.g., a left swipe) can be used to access a second pane that isaccessible through the live app. In some embodiments, a different swipegesture (e.g., a right swipe) can be used to access a third pane that isaccessible through the live app. Many variations are possible.

FIG. 4A illustrates an example diagram 400, according to an embodimentof the present disclosure. In the example of FIG. 4A, a user operating acomputing device 402 has launched an instance of the live app and isaccessing a second pane 404 of the live app. The user can access thesecond pane 404 by performing a touch screen gesture on a display screen412 of the computing device 402. For example, the second pane 404 may beaccessed by performing a swipe gesture from a first pane of the live app(e.g., the first pane 304 of FIG. 3). In some embodiments, the secondpane 404 can provide access to a content library associated with thecomputing device 402. The content library may include various contentitems that are accessible through one or more data stores (e.g., localdata store, network-based data store, cloud-based data store, etc.) thatare accessible to the computing device 402. In the example of FIG. 4A,the content library includes a number of screenshots (or images) 406 andvideos 408 including content that was captured during a live broadcast.In some embodiments, the second pane 404 can include a lock indicator410 that indicates the computing device 402 is not actively broadcastinglive content through the social networking system. In this instance, thelive broadcast is paused or stopped as long as the second pane 404 isbeing accessed. In some embodiments, the second pane 404 can include anoption that enables the user to post (re-post) captured content to asocial networking system.

FIG. 4B illustrates an example diagram 420, according to an embodimentof the current disclosure. In the example of FIG. 4B, a user operating acomputing device 422 has launched an instance of the live app and isaccessing a third pane 424 of the live app. The user can access thethird pane 424 by performing a touch screen gesture through a displayscreen 432 of the computing device 422. For example, the third pane 424may be accessed by performing a swipe gesture from a first pane of thelive app (e.g., the first pane 304 of FIG. 3). In some embodiments, thethird pane 424 can provide access to various live content steams thatare being broadcasted through a social networking system. The livecontent streams can be arranged by their broadcast status. For example,active live content streams 426 (live content streams currentlybroadcasting) can be shown before inactive live content streams 428(live content streams not currently broadcasting). In some embodiments,the user operating the computing device 422 can select (or tap) anactive live content stream 426 to view (or access) live contentcorresponding the active live content stream through the computingdevice 422. Similar to the second pane 404 of FIG. 4A, in someembodiments, the third pane 424 can include a lock indicator 430 thatindicates the computing device 422 is not actively broadcasting livecontent through the social networking system. In this instance, the livebroadcast is paused or stopped while the third pane 424 is beingaccessed.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example method 500, according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure. It should be appreciated thatthere can be additional, fewer, or alternative steps performed insimilar or alternative orders, or in parallel, within the scope ofvarious embodiments discussed herein unless otherwise stated.

At block 502, the example method 500 provides an interface that includesat least a plurality of panes. At block 504, the example method 500determines that a first pane is being accessed, the first pane forcapturing and broadcasting live content through a social networkingsystem. At block 506, the example method 500 captures live contentstream upon accessing the first pane. At block 508, the example method500 provides data corresponding to the live content stream to the socialnetworking system for broadcasting.

Social Networking System—Example Implementation

FIG. 6 illustrates a network diagram of an example system 600 that canbe utilized in various scenarios, in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present technology. The system 600 includes one or more user devices610, one or more external systems 620, a social networking system (orservice) 630, and a network 655. In an embodiment, the social networkingservice, provider, and/or system discussed in connection with theembodiments described above may be implemented as the social networkingsystem 630. For purposes of illustration, the embodiment of the system600, shown by FIG. 6, includes a single external system 620 and a singleuser device 610. However, in other embodiments, the system 600 mayinclude more user devices 610 and/or more external systems 620. Incertain embodiments, the social networking system 630 is operated by asocial network provider, whereas the external systems 620 are separatefrom the social networking system 630 in that they may be operated bydifferent entities. In various embodiments, however, the socialnetworking system 630 and the external systems 620 operate inconjunction to provide social networking services to users (or members)of the social networking system 630. In this sense, the socialnetworking system 630 provides a platform or backbone, which othersystems, such as external systems 620, may use to provide socialnetworking services and functionalities to users across the Internet.

The user device 610 comprises one or more computing devices that canreceive input from a user and transmit and receive data via the network655. In one embodiment, the user device 610 is a conventional computersystem executing, for example, a Microsoft Windows compatible operatingsystem (OS), Apple OS X, and/or a Linux distribution. In anotherembodiment, the user device 610 can be a device having computerfunctionality, such as a smart-phone, a tablet, a personal digitalassistant (PDA), a mobile telephone, etc. The user device 610 isconfigured to communicate via the network 655. The user device 610 canexecute an application, for example, a browser application that allows auser of the user device 610 to interact with the social networkingsystem 630. In another embodiment, the user device 610 interacts withthe social networking system 630 through an application programminginterface (API) provided by the native operating system of the userdevice 610, such as iOS and ANDROID. The user device 610 is configuredto communicate with the external system 620 and the social networkingsystem 630 via the network 655, which may comprise any combination oflocal area and/or wide area networks, using wired and/or wirelesscommunication systems.

In one embodiment, the network 655 uses standard communicationstechnologies and protocols. Thus, the network 655 can include linksusing technologies such as Ethernet, 802.11, worldwide interoperabilityfor microwave access (WiMAX), 3G, 4G, CDMA, GSM, LTE, digital subscriberline (DSL), etc. Similarly, the networking protocols used on the network655 can include multiprotocol label switching (MPLS), transmissioncontrol protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP), User Datagram Protocol(UDP), hypertext transport protocol (HTTP), simple mail transferprotocol (SMTP), file transfer protocol (FTP), and the like. The dataexchanged over the network 655 can be represented using technologiesand/or formats including hypertext markup language (HTML) and extensiblemarkup language (XML). In addition, all or some links can be encryptedusing conventional encryption technologies such as secure sockets layer(SSL), transport layer security (TLS), and Internet Protocol security(IPsec).

In one embodiment, the user device 610 may display content from theexternal system 620 and/or from the social networking system 630 byprocessing a markup language document 614 received from the externalsystem 620 and from the social networking system 630 using a browserapplication 612. The markup language document 614 identifies content andone or more instructions describing formatting or presentation of thecontent. By executing the instructions included in the markup languagedocument 614, the browser application 612 displays the identifiedcontent using the format or presentation described by the markuplanguage document 614. For example, the markup language document 614includes instructions for generating and displaying a web page havingmultiple frames that include text and/or image data retrieved from theexternal system 620 and the social networking system 630. In variousembodiments, the markup language document 614 comprises a data fileincluding extensible markup language (XML) data, extensible hypertextmarkup language (XHTML) data, or other markup language data.Additionally, the markup language document 614 may include JavaScriptObject Notation (JSON) data, JSON with padding (JSONP), and JavaScriptdata to facilitate data-interchange between the external system 620 andthe user device 610. The browser application 612 on the user device 610may use a JavaScript compiler to decode the markup language document614.

The markup language document 614 may also include, or link to,applications or application frameworks such as FLASH™ or Unity™applications, the SilverLight™ application framework, etc.

In one embodiment, the user device 610 also includes one or more cookies616 including data indicating whether a user of the user device 610 islogged into the social networking system 630, which may enablemodification of the data communicated from the social networking system630 to the user device 610.

The external system 620 includes one or more web servers that includeone or more web pages 622 a, 622 b, which are communicated to the userdevice 610 using the network 655. The external system 620 is separatefrom the social networking system 630. For example, the external system620 is associated with a first domain, while the social networkingsystem 630 is associated with a separate social networking domain. Webpages 622 a, 622 b, included in the external system 620, comprise markuplanguage documents 614 identifying content and including instructionsspecifying formatting or presentation of the identified content.

The social networking system 630 includes one or more computing devicesfor a social network, including a plurality of users, and providingusers of the social network with the ability to communicate and interactwith other users of the social network. In some instances, the socialnetwork can be represented by a graph, i.e., a data structure includingedges and nodes. Other data structures can also be used to represent thesocial network, including but not limited to databases, objects,classes, meta elements, files, or any other data structure. The socialnetworking system 630 may be administered, managed, or controlled by anoperator. The operator of the social networking system 630 may be ahuman being, an automated application, or a series of applications formanaging content, regulating policies, and collecting usage metricswithin the social networking system 630. Any type of operator may beused.

Users may join the social networking system 630 and then add connectionsto any number of other users of the social networking system 630 to whomthey desire to be connected. As used herein, the term “friend” refers toany other user of the social networking system 630 to whom a user hasformed a connection, association, or relationship via the socialnetworking system 630. For example, in an embodiment, if users in thesocial networking system 630 are represented as nodes in the socialgraph, the term “friend” can refer to an edge formed between anddirectly connecting two user nodes.

Connections may be added explicitly by a user or may be automaticallycreated by the social networking system 630 based on commoncharacteristics of the users (e.g., users who are alumni of the sameeducational institution). For example, a first user specifically selectsa particular other user to be a friend. Connections in the socialnetworking system 630 are usually in both directions, but need not be,so the terms “user” and “friend” depend on the frame of reference.Connections between users of the social networking system 630 areusually bilateral (“two-way”), or “mutual,” but connections may also beunilateral, or “one-way.” For example, if Bob and Joe are both users ofthe social networking system 630 and connected to each other, Bob andJoe are each other's connections. If, on the other hand, Bob wishes toconnect to Joe to view data communicated to the social networking system630 by Joe, but Joe does not wish to form a mutual connection, aunilateral connection may be established. The connection between usersmay be a direct connection; however, some embodiments of the socialnetworking system 630 allow the connection to be indirect via one ormore levels of connections or degrees of separation.

In addition to establishing and maintaining connections between usersand allowing interactions between users, the social networking system630 provides users with the ability to take actions on various types ofitems supported by the social networking system 630. These items mayinclude groups or networks (i.e., social networks of people, entities,and concepts) to which users of the social networking system 630 maybelong, events or calendar entries in which a user might be interested,computer-based applications that a user may use via the socialnetworking system 630, transactions that allow users to buy or sellitems via services provided by or through the social networking system630, and interactions with advertisements that a user may perform on oroff the social networking system 630. These are just a few examples ofthe items upon which a user may act on the social networking system 630,and many others are possible. A user may interact with anything that iscapable of being represented in the social networking system 630 or inthe external system 620, separate from the social networking system 630,or coupled to the social networking system 630 via the network 655.

The social networking system 630 is also capable of linking a variety ofentities. For example, the social networking system 630 enables users tointeract with each other as well as external systems 620 or otherentities through an API, a web service, or other communication channels.The social networking system 630 generates and maintains the “socialgraph” comprising a plurality of nodes interconnected by a plurality ofedges. Each node in the social graph may represent an entity that canact on another node and/or that can be acted on by another node. Thesocial graph may include various types of nodes. Examples of types ofnodes include users, non-person entities, content items, web pages,groups, activities, messages, concepts, and any other things that can berepresented by an object in the social networking system 630. An edgebetween two nodes in the social graph may represent a particular kind ofconnection, or association, between the two nodes, which may result fromnode relationships or from an action that was performed by one of thenodes on the other node. In some cases, the edges between nodes can beweighted. The weight of an edge can represent an attribute associatedwith the edge, such as a strength of the connection or associationbetween nodes. Different types of edges can be provided with differentweights. For example, an edge created when one user “likes” another usermay be given one weight, while an edge created when a user befriendsanother user may be given a different weight.

As an example, when a first user identifies a second user as a friend,an edge in the social graph is generated connecting a node representingthe first user and a second node representing the second user. Asvarious nodes relate or interact with each other, the social networkingsystem 630 modifies edges connecting the various nodes to reflect therelationships and interactions.

The social networking system 630 also includes user-generated content,which enhances a user's interactions with the social networking system630. User-generated content may include anything a user can add, upload,send, or “post” to the social networking system 630. For example, a usercommunicates posts to the social networking system 630 from a userdevice 610. Posts may include data such as status updates or othertextual data, location information, images such as photos, videos,links, music or other similar data and/or media. Content may also beadded to the social networking system 630 by a third party. Content“items” are represented as objects in the social networking system 630.In this way, users of the social networking system 630 are encouraged tocommunicate with each other by posting text and content items of varioustypes of media through various communication channels. Suchcommunication increases the interaction of users with each other andincreases the frequency with which users interact with the socialnetworking system 630.

The social networking system 630 includes a web server 632, an APIrequest server 634, a user profile store 636, a connection store 638, anaction logger 640, an activity log 642, and an authorization server 644.In an embodiment of the invention, the social networking system 630 mayinclude additional, fewer, or different components for variousapplications. Other components, such as network interfaces, securitymechanisms, load balancers, failover servers, management and networkoperations consoles, and the like are not shown so as to not obscure thedetails of the system.

The user profile store 636 maintains information about user accounts,including biographic, demographic, and other types of descriptiveinformation, such as work experience, educational history, hobbies orpreferences, location, and the like that has been declared by users orinferred by the social networking system 630. This information is storedin the user profile store 636 such that each user is uniquelyidentified. The social networking system 630 also stores data describingone or more connections between different users in the connection store638. The connection information may indicate users who have similar orcommon work experience, group memberships, hobbies, or educationalhistory. Additionally, the social networking system 630 includesuser-defined connections between different users, allowing users tospecify their relationships with other users. For example, user-definedconnections allow users to generate relationships with other users thatparallel the users' real-life relationships, such as friends,co-workers, partners, and so forth. Users may select from predefinedtypes of connections, or define their own connection types as needed.Connections with other nodes in the social networking system 630, suchas non-person entities, buckets, cluster centers, images, interests,pages, external systems, concepts, and the like are also stored in theconnection store 638.

The social networking system 630 maintains data about objects with whicha user may interact. To maintain this data, the user profile store 636and the connection store 638 store instances of the corresponding typeof objects maintained by the social networking system 630. Each objecttype has information fields that are suitable for storing informationappropriate to the type of object. For example, the user profile store636 contains data structures with fields suitable for describing auser's account and information related to a user's account. When a newobject of a particular type is created, the social networking system 630initializes a new data structure of the corresponding type, assigns aunique object identifier to it, and begins to add data to the object asneeded. This might occur, for example, when a user becomes a user of thesocial networking system 630, the social networking system 630 generatesa new instance of a user profile in the user profile store 636, assignsa unique identifier to the user account, and begins to populate thefields of the user account with information provided by the user.

The connection store 638 includes data structures suitable fordescribing a user's connections to other users, connections to externalsystems 620 or connections to other entities. The connection store 638may also associate a connection type with a user's connections, whichmay be used in conjunction with the user's privacy setting to regulateaccess to information about the user. In an embodiment of the invention,the user profile store 636 and the connection store 638 may beimplemented as a federated database.

Data stored in the connection store 638, the user profile store 636, andthe activity log 642 enables the social networking system 630 togenerate the social graph that uses nodes to identify various objectsand edges connecting nodes to identify relationships between differentobjects. For example, if a first user establishes a connection with asecond user in the social networking system 630, user accounts of thefirst user and the second user from the user profile store 636 may actas nodes in the social graph. The connection between the first user andthe second user stored by the connection store 638 is an edge betweenthe nodes associated with the first user and the second user. Continuingthis example, the second user may then send the first user a messagewithin the social networking system 630. The action of sending themessage, which may be stored, is another edge between the two nodes inthe social graph representing the first user and the second user.Additionally, the message itself may be identified and included in thesocial graph as another node connected to the nodes representing thefirst user and the second user.

In another example, a first user may tag a second user in an image thatis maintained by the social networking system 630 (or, alternatively, inan image maintained by another system outside of the social networkingsystem 630). The image may itself be represented as a node in the socialnetworking system 630. This tagging action may create edges between thefirst user and the second user as well as create an edge between each ofthe users and the image, which is also a node in the social graph. Inyet another example, if a user confirms attending an event, the user andthe event are nodes obtained from the user profile store 636, where theattendance of the event is an edge between the nodes that may beretrieved from the activity log 642. By generating and maintaining thesocial graph, the social networking system 630 includes data describingmany different types of objects and the interactions and connectionsamong those objects, providing a rich source of socially relevantinformation.

The web server 632 links the social networking system 630 to one or moreuser devices 610 and/or one or more external systems 620 via the network655. The web server 632 serves web pages, as well as other web-relatedcontent, such as Java, JavaScript, Flash, XML, and so forth. The webserver 632 may include a mail server or other messaging functionalityfor receiving and routing messages between the social networking system630 and one or more user devices 610. The messages can be instantmessages, queued messages (e.g., email), text and SMS messages, or anyother suitable messaging format.

The API request server 634 allows one or more external systems 620 anduser devices 610 to call access information from the social networkingsystem 630 by calling one or more API functions. The API request server634 may also allow external systems 620 to send information to thesocial networking system 630 by calling APIs. The external system 620,in one embodiment, sends an API request to the social networking system630 via the network 655, and the API request server 634 receives the APIrequest. The API request server 634 processes the request by calling anAPI associated with the API request to generate an appropriate response,which the API request server 634 communicates to the external system 620via the network 655. For example, responsive to an API request, the APIrequest server 634 collects data associated with a user, such as theuser's connections that have logged into the external system 620, andcommunicates the collected data to the external system 620. In anotherembodiment, the user device 610 communicates with the social networkingsystem 630 via APIs in the same manner as external systems 620.

The action logger 640 is capable of receiving communications from theweb server 632 about user actions on and/or off the social networkingsystem 630. The action logger 640 populates the activity log 642 withinformation about user actions, enabling the social networking system630 to discover various actions taken by its users within the socialnetworking system 630 and outside of the social networking system 630.Any action that a particular user takes with respect to another node onthe social networking system 630 may be associated with each user'saccount, through information maintained in the activity log 642 or in asimilar database or other data repository. Examples of actions taken bya user within the social networking system 630 that are identified andstored may include, for example, adding a connection to another user,sending a message to another user, reading a message from another user,viewing content associated with another user, attending an event postedby another user, posting an image, attempting to post an image, or otheractions interacting with another user or another object. When a usertakes an action within the social networking system 630, the action isrecorded in the activity log 642. In one embodiment, the socialnetworking system 630 maintains the activity log 642 as a database ofentries. When an action is taken within the social networking system630, an entry for the action is added to the activity log 642. Theactivity log 642 may be referred to as an action log.

Additionally, user actions may be associated with concepts and actionsthat occur within an entity outside of the social networking system 630,such as an external system 620 that is separate from the socialnetworking system 630. For example, the action logger 640 may receivedata describing a user's interaction with an external system 620 fromthe web server 632. In this example, the external system 620 reports auser's interaction according to structured actions and objects in thesocial graph.

Other examples of actions where a user interacts with an external system620 include a user expressing an interest in an external system 620 oranother entity, a user posting a comment to the social networking system630 that discusses an external system 620 or a web page 622 a within theexternal system 620, a user posting to the social networking system 630a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or other identifier associated with anexternal system 620, a user attending an event associated with anexternal system 620, or any other action by a user that is related to anexternal system 620. Thus, the activity log 642 may include actionsdescribing interactions between a user of the social networking system630 and an external system 620 that is separate from the socialnetworking system 630.

The authorization server 644 enforces one or more privacy settings ofthe users of the social networking system 630. A privacy setting of auser determines how particular information associated with a user can beshared. The privacy setting comprises the specification of particularinformation associated with a user and the specification of the entityor entities with whom the information can be shared. Examples ofentities with which information can be shared may include other users,applications, external systems 620, or any entity that can potentiallyaccess the information. The information that can be shared by a usercomprises user account information, such as profile photos, phonenumbers associated with the user, user's connections, actions taken bythe user such as adding a connection, changing user profile information,and the like.

The privacy setting specification may be provided at different levels ofgranularity. For example, the privacy setting may identify specificinformation to be shared with other users; the privacy settingidentifies a work phone number or a specific set of related information,such as, personal information including profile photo, home phonenumber, and status. Alternatively, the privacy setting may apply to allthe information associated with the user. The specification of the setof entities that can access particular information can also be specifiedat various levels of granularity. Various sets of entities with whichinformation can be shared may include, for example, all friends of theuser, all friends of friends, all applications, or all external systems620. One embodiment allows the specification of the set of entities tocomprise an enumeration of entities. For example, the user may provide alist of external systems 620 that are allowed to access certaininformation. Another embodiment allows the specification to comprise aset of entities along with exceptions that are not allowed to access theinformation. For example, a user may allow all external systems 620 toaccess the user's work information, but specify a list of externalsystems 620 that are not allowed to access the work information. Certainembodiments call the list of exceptions that are not allowed to accesscertain information a “block list”. External systems 620 belonging to ablock list specified by a user are blocked from accessing theinformation specified in the privacy setting. Various combinations ofgranularity of specification of information, and granularity ofspecification of entities, with which information is shared arepossible. For example, all personal information may be shared withfriends whereas all work information may be shared with friends offriends.

The authorization server 644 contains logic to determine if certaininformation associated with a user can be accessed by a user's friends,external systems 620, and/or other applications and entities. Theexternal system 620 may need authorization from the authorization server644 to access the user's more private and sensitive information, such asthe user's work phone number. Based on the user's privacy settings, theauthorization server 644 determines if another user, the external system620, an application, or another entity is allowed to access informationassociated with the user, including information about actions taken bythe user.

In some embodiments, the social networking system 630 can include acontent provider module 646. The content provider module 646 can beimplemented with the content provider module 102, as discussed in moredetail herein. In some embodiments, one or more functionalities of thecontent provider module 646 can also be implemented in the user device610.

In some embodiments, the user device 610 can include a live app module618. The live app module 618 can be implemented with the live app module110 of FIG. 1. In some embodiments, one or more functionalities of thelive app module 618 can also be implemented in the social networkingsystem 630. In some embodiments, the social networking system 630 caninclude a content provider module 646. The content provider module 646can be implemented with the content provider module 102 of FIG. 1.

Hardware Implementation

The foregoing processes and features can be implemented by a widevariety of machine and computer system architectures and in a widevariety of network and computing environments. FIG. 7 illustrates anexample of a computer system 700 that may be used to implement one ormore of the embodiments described herein in accordance with anembodiment of the invention. The computer system 700 includes sets ofinstructions for causing the computer system 700 to perform theprocesses and features discussed herein. The computer system 700 may beconnected (e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networkeddeployment, the computer system 700 may operate in the capacity of aserver machine or a client machine in a client-server networkenvironment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed)network environment. In an embodiment of the invention, the computersystem 700 may be the social networking system 630, the user device 610,and the external system 720, or a component thereof. In an embodiment ofthe invention, the computer system 700 may be one server among many thatconstitutes all or part of the social networking system 630.

The computer system 700 includes a processor 702, a cache 704, and oneor more executable modules and drivers, stored on a computer-readablemedium, directed to the processes and features described herein.Additionally, the computer system 700 includes a high performanceinput/output (I/O) bus 706 and a standard I/O bus 708. A host bridge 710couples processor 702 to high performance I/O bus 706, whereas I/O busbridge 712 couples the two buses 706 and 708 to each other. A systemmemory 714 and one or more network interfaces 716 couple to highperformance I/O bus 706. The computer system 700 may further includevideo memory and a display device coupled to the video memory (notshown). Mass storage 718 and I/O ports 720 couple to the standard I/Obus 708. The computer system 700 may optionally include a keyboard andpointing device, a display device, or other input/output devices (notshown) coupled to the standard I/O bus 708. Collectively, these elementsare intended to represent a broad category of computer hardware systems,including but not limited to computer systems based on thex86-compatible processors manufactured by Intel Corporation of SantaClara, Calif., and the x86-compatible processors manufactured byAdvanced Micro Devices (AMD), Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif., as well as anyother suitable processor.

An operating system manages and controls the operation of the computersystem 700, including the input and output of data to and from softwareapplications (not shown). The operating system provides an interfacebetween the software applications being executed on the system and thehardware components of the system. Any suitable operating system may beused, such as the LINUX Operating System, the Apple Macintosh OperatingSystem, available from Apple Computer Inc. of Cupertino, Calif., UNIXoperating systems, Microsoft® Windows® operating systems, BSD operatingsystems, and the like. Other implementations are possible.

The elements of the computer system 700 are described in greater detailbelow. In particular, the network interface 716 provides communicationbetween the computer system 700 and any of a wide range of networks,such as an Ethernet (e.g., IEEE 802.3) network, a backplane, etc. Themass storage 718 provides permanent storage for the data and programminginstructions to perform the above-described processes and featuresimplemented by the respective computing systems identified above,whereas the system memory 714 (e.g., DRAM) provides temporary storagefor the data and programming instructions when executed by the processor702. The I/O ports 720 may be one or more serial and/or parallelcommunication ports that provide communication between additionalperipheral devices, which may be coupled to the computer system 700.

The computer system 700 may include a variety of system architectures,and various components of the computer system 700 may be rearranged. Forexample, the cache 704 may be on-chip with processor 702. Alternatively,the cache 704 and the processor 702 may be packed together as a“processor module”, with processor 702 being referred to as the“processor core”. Furthermore, certain embodiments of the invention mayneither require nor include all of the above components. For example,peripheral devices coupled to the standard I/O bus 708 may couple to thehigh performance I/O bus 706. In addition, in some embodiments, only asingle bus may exist, with the components of the computer system 700being coupled to the single bus. Moreover, the computer system 700 mayinclude additional components, such as additional processors, storagedevices, or memories.

In general, the processes and features described herein may beimplemented as part of an operating system or a specific application,component, program, object, module, or series of instructions referredto as “programs”. For example, one or more programs may be used toexecute specific processes described herein. The programs typicallycomprise one or more instructions in various memory and storage devicesin the computer system 700 that, when read and executed by one or moreprocessors, cause the computer system 700 to perform operations toexecute the processes and features described herein. The processes andfeatures described herein may be implemented in software, firmware,hardware (e.g., an application specific integrated circuit), or anycombination thereof.

In one implementation, the processes and features described herein areimplemented as a series of executable modules run by the computer system700, individually or collectively in a distributed computingenvironment. The foregoing modules may be realized by hardware,executable modules stored on a computer-readable medium (ormachine-readable medium), or a combination of both. For example, themodules may comprise a plurality or series of instructions to beexecuted by a processor in a hardware system, such as the processor 702.Initially, the series of instructions may be stored on a storage device,such as the mass storage 718. However, the series of instructions can bestored on any suitable computer readable storage medium. Furthermore,the series of instructions need not be stored locally, and could bereceived from a remote storage device, such as a server on a network,via the network interface 716. The instructions are copied from thestorage device, such as the mass storage 718, into the system memory 714and then accessed and executed by the processor 702. In variousimplementations, a module or modules can be executed by a processor ormultiple processors in one or multiple locations, such as multipleservers in a parallel processing environment.

Examples of computer-readable media include, but are not limited to,recordable type media such as volatile and non-volatile memory devices;solid state memories; floppy and other removable disks; hard diskdrives; magnetic media; optical disks (e.g., Compact Disk Read-OnlyMemory (CD ROMS), Digital Versatile Disks (DVDs)); other similarnon-transitory (or transitory), tangible (or non-tangible) storagemedium; or any type of medium suitable for storing, encoding, orcarrying a series of instructions for execution by the computer system700 to perform any one or more of the processes and features describedherein.

For purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth inorder to provide a thorough understanding of the description. It will beapparent, however, to one skilled in the art that embodiments of thedisclosure can be practiced without these specific details. In someinstances, modules, structures, processes, features, and devices areshown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the description.In other instances, functional block diagrams and flow diagrams areshown to represent data and logic flows. The components of blockdiagrams and flow diagrams (e.g., modules, blocks, structures, devices,features, etc.) may be variously combined, separated, removed,reordered, and replaced in a manner other than as expressly describedand depicted herein.

Reference in this specification to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”,“other embodiments”, “one series of embodiments”, “some embodiments”,“various embodiments”, or the like means that a particular feature,design, structure, or characteristic described in connection with theembodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the disclosure. Theappearances of, for example, the phrase “in one embodiment” or “in anembodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarilyall referring to the same embodiment, nor are separate or alternativeembodiments mutually exclusive of other embodiments. Moreover, whetheror not there is express reference to an “embodiment” or the like,various features are described, which may be variously combined andincluded in some embodiments, but also variously omitted in otherembodiments. Similarly, various features are described that may bepreferences or requirements for some embodiments, but not otherembodiments.

The language used herein has been principally selected for readabilityand instructional purposes, and it may not have been selected todelineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter. It is thereforeintended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detaileddescription, but rather by any claims that issue on an application basedhereon. Accordingly, the disclosure of the embodiments of the inventionis intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of theinvention, which is set forth in the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method comprising:providing, by a computing device, an interface that includes a pluralityof panes; determining, by the computing device, that a first pane isbeing accessed, the first pane for capturing and broadcasting livecontent through a social networking system; and capturing, by thecomputing device, a live content stream upon accessing the first pane;and providing, by the computing device, data corresponding to the livecontent stream to the social networking system for broadcasting.
 2. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein: the interface includesa second pane for accessing a content library; and the interfaceincludes a third pane for accessing other live content streams beingbroadcasted through the social networking system.
 3. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the live content streamceases to be accessible through the social networking system oncebroadcasting ends.
 4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,wherein broadcasting of the live content stream is paused when thesecond pane or the third pane is accessed.
 5. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 1, wherein the first pane includes at least one of anoption to capture one or more screenshot images of the live contentstream or an option to capture one or more videos of the live contentstream.
 6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein capturedscreenshot images or captured videos of the live content stream arestored on the computing device.
 7. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 5, wherein captured screenshot images or captured videos of thelive content stream are stored in a content library accessible through asecond pane.
 8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein thesecond pane includes an option for sharing content stored in the contentlibrary through the social networking system.
 9. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein feedback received forthe live content stream from other viewing users of the socialnetworking system is provided through the first pane.
 10. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein an avatar associatedwith a viewing user animates when the viewing user interacts with thelive content stream.
 11. A system comprising: at least one processor;and a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at leastone processor, cause the system to perform: providing an interface thatincludes a plurality of panes; determining that a first pane is beingaccessed, the first pane for capturing and broadcasting live contentthrough a social networking system; capturing a live content stream uponaccessing the first pane; and providing data corresponding to the livecontent stream to the social networking system for broadcasting.
 12. Thesystem of claim 11, wherein: the interface includes a second pane foraccessing a content library; and the interface includes a third pane foraccessing other live content streams being broadcasted through thesocial networking system.
 13. The system of claim 11, wherein the livecontent stream ceases to be accessible through the social networkingsystem once broadcasting ends.
 14. The system of claim 11, whereinbroadcasting of the live content stream is paused when the second paneor the third pane is accessed.
 15. The system of claim 11, wherein thefirst pane includes at least one of an option to capture one or morescreenshot images of the live content stream or an option to capture oneor more videos of the live content stream.
 16. A non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium including instructions that, whenexecuted by at least one processor of a computing system, cause thecomputing system to perform a method comprising: providing an interfacethat includes a plurality of panes; determining that a first pane isbeing accessed; capturing a live content stream upon accessing the firstpane, the first pane for capturing and broadcasting live content througha social networking system; and providing data corresponding to the livecontent stream to the social networking system for broadcasting.
 17. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein:the interface includes a second pane for accessing a content library;and the interface includes a third pane for accessing other live contentstreams being broadcasted through the social networking system.
 18. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein thelive content stream ceases to be accessible through the socialnetworking system once broadcasting ends.
 19. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein broadcasting ofthe live content stream is paused when the second pane or the third paneis accessed.
 20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium ofclaim 16, wherein the first pane includes at least one of an option tocapture one or more screenshot images of the live content stream or anoption to capture one or more videos of the live content stream.